A decision to attend college is based on many academic and athletic factors. Identifying factors most influential in college selection is beneficial to college administrators, recruiters, and coaches, and will ultimately influence recruitment, retention, and short and long term strategic plans of an institution. However, there have been very few research studies that identify and evaluate these factors specifically in two-year institutions. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify and rank factors influencing college selection of students enrolling in two-year colleges and participating in intercollegiate athletics in the Midwestern United States.
Method
Participants for this study were composed of 57 (54%) male and 48 (46%) female student-athletes from 19 two-year colleges in the Midwest regions of the National Junior College Athletic Conference (NJCAC). The Student Athlete College Choice Profile Survey (Gabert, Hale, & Montalvo, 1999) was utilized to assess factors influencing the college choice decisions of student-athletes. Descriptive statistics (percentages, frequency distributions, means, ranges, and standard deviations) were utilized to describe the demographic characteristics of the participants. Means and standard deviations were utilized to compare factors influencing the college choice decisions of student-athletes. Additionally, t-tests were conducted to determine significant differences in college choice factors by gender.
Analysis/Results
Results indicated that the five most significant factors in college selection were (a) athletics/sports/extracurricular activities (M=4.24), (b) cost of attendance/tuition fees (M=3.69), (c) head coach and coaching staff (M=3.59), (d) availability of desired major/degree programs (M=3.32), and (e) location of college/commuting distance (M=3.25). T-test revealed there were significant differences based on size of campus, surrounding community where college is located, head coach and coaching staff, and gender of head coach. Men selected more “athletically related factors” (i.e., head coach and coaching staff) as influential, whereas women selected “non-athletic” criteria such as tuition and fees, location, desired major and financial aid as more influential. However, both females and males stated athletic participation as the number one reason for attending.
Conclusions
NJCAA student-athletes choose an institution based on the athletic program opportunities at a campus and want to continue their athletic interests at the college level. The results of this study suggest that marketing efforts should be designed to inform potential student-athletes of athletic opportunities that exist on campuses sanctioning NJCAA athletics.
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